Botanical classification: Petuniaxc3x97hybrida cultivar X00-155-1.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petuniaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name X00-155-1.
The new Petunia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia. The objective of the breeding program is to create outwardly spreading Petunias with numerous small flowers with attractive flower colors.
The new Petunia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1999 of a proprietary Petunia selection identified as X99.23.9, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Petunia selection identified as X99.3.7, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Petunia was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny of the cross-pollination by the Inventor in 1999, in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia, on the basis of its outwardly spreading habit and numerous small flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by vegetative cuttings taken in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia since 2000 has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar X00-155-1 have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98X00-155-1xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98X00-155-1xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, mounded and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Small leaf size.
4. Numerous small light violet-colored flowers with purple-colored throats.
5. Resistant to Botrytis and Powdery Mildew.
Compared to plants of the female parent, plants of the new Petunia have smaller flowers and differ in flower color. Compared to plants of the male parent, plants of the new Petunia have smaller flowers, flower earlier and differ in flower color.
Plants of the new Petunia can be compared to plants of the cultivar MP20, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,857. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia, plants of the new Petunia differed from plants of the cultivar MP20 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia were more mounded and outwardly spreading than plants of the cultivar MP20.
2. Flowers of plants of the new Petunia had less prominent venation than flowers of plants of the cultivar MP20.
3. Plants of the new Petunia and the cultivar MP20 differed in flower color.